Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1887-03-10
ON 10 HE HALIFAX.

JACKSONVILLE, FLA, March S.-New
smyrna and the Halifax section had their
"red letter" day yesterday, when the good
people OF that hitherto almost inaccessible
country turned out en- mssse to welcome
the first train on the Blue Spring, Orange
City and Atlantic railroad, the advance
courier, as 1t were, of new future for
this charming section.
Invitations had been issued by Mr..
Dexter Hunter and Mr.. J. +. Thwing,
Receiver aud President. respectively, OF
| the road, and the Jacksonville Board of
! Trade, with good contingent Of other
guests, some sixty in all, left here Mon
! day afternoon on the Jacksonville, Tampa
and Key West railway. Arriving at the
Gem City" at $3.50 O'Clock the entire
party were taken to the hospitable Put
nam where they remained over night
! Taxing the special train provided early
| Tuesday, the party were soon gliding
| over The well-ballasted r0adbed OF the
! Jacksonville, Tampa and Key West, re-
| infOroed by a half score Of PsiatEa's
prominent business men. At Seville,
| DeLahd junction and Orange City june
! ton good additions were made to the
! party, and the tour coaches provided were
| well filled. Switching on to the line OF
| the new road, rapid progress was
made, and AT Orange City, Lake Helen
| and other points aecessions were received
| TO the party, aud several fats were added
| 10 accommodate the rush. At Lake
| Helen, besides the invited quests. over $50
tickets were sold. Al 1880 Glencoe was
reached, giving us the ilrst breath oil salt
air, the cool breeze from of old oceans
bosom being wonderfully exhllRrating.
! AT l, amid booming of cannon, the shrill
WHISTLES Of the locomotive and boat, and
| the cheering OF 1000 people, New Smyrna
was reached and the Atlantic and Gulf
| were joined by still another link OF Steel &.
| DR.. Hawks delivered An address OF well
come, after which the hungry excursion
lists dispersed, the invited guests taking
! possession OF the Ocean House, whlle the
| others were accommodated at a beautiful
! grove near by, where a most tempting
free dinner was given all by the hospita-
BILE and Open-hGnded residents OF this SEQ
uon, VINO have the name OF never doing
| things in halfway manner.
After the Inner SOUP was well forth
fed, impromptu speeches were delivered
/ Ia front of the Ocean House by Col.
DOugherty, Messrs. Dexter, Hunter and
j. Q. Burbridge. of Jacksonville, aud
others. An elaborate programme of
toasts and responses mad been arranged
for, but on account of limited time it had
to be given up. The steamer made several
glimpse of the dancing. blue
M Messfs e. S 'f Hart A' F. w. sams
c. r. Pitzer, K. s. Wilson, w. 5. Hart,
Z. \. Bryant and others kindly provided
teams and gave the press representatives.
and other guests interesting rides round
about New Smyrna. At the warning
whistle sounded and Reluctantly those
who were compelled to wended their way
to the station, where two trains were in
waiting, one being special running
| clear through 10 Jacksonville, much to
the pleasure of the delegation from that
city. A large number remained at New
SMYRNA to enjoy the pleasures of the
| place and possibly TO take in the ball that
was to come OF that evening.
THE ROADS HISTORY
| is checkered one. Six years ago Mr..
W. w. West. of Orange City, bought
the charter that had been obtained pre-
| vlously and built a tramway from the st.
| Johns river to Orange City, distance or
seven miles. This proved great cOnve-
nience tor the people, and whs profitable
| to the owners. 1t proved, however, the
| necessity of railroad through that Sec
ton, and strenuous efforts were made to
build one. In tue spring of 1884 Mr.. j. Z.
| Thwing and associates purchased the
road, laid new rails, extended the line to
l
! rIver), and put on steam cars. Their
1 funds failing, a friendly arrangement
| was made with the creditors. and in Au-
| gust, 1885, Mr.. Dexter Hunter. a promi-
| nent business man of this place, was APP.
pointed receiver. Judge Foster gave him
| permission to issue 100000 in receivers
| certificates, not TO be sold at less than
par. Z. r. Chapman Il Co., of New
York, contractors, took the bonds and
| finished the road. Much credit Is due
| Mr.. Hunter for mis- persistent energy in
tots matter; alse to President Thwing,
| who never lost faith in the enterprise.
| To Col. s. 3. Carter, chief engineer and
superintendent, is due credit for the WELL
finished condition of the road. Much
favorable comment was made by the ex-
cursionists on the smooth riding over SC
new a road.
IT IS A SUCCESS
and has prospects OF 4 most fourishina
business. Its present rolling stock con-
/ sists of two locomotives, one pullman
aud two passenger coaches, thirteen flats
and another locomotive is now on the
way. The present officers are Dexter
! Hunter. receiver; j. 4. Thwing, presi
| dent; James Gilfllan, formerly U. 5.
! Treasurer treasurer; s. E. Church, 10
New York; secretary; ). b. Carter
chief nginesr and superintendent; &. w
4 kiut, COnAuSbOAs
4 The company has grant OF
10000 ACRES OF LAND,
and this, with their business from the
| Halifax river section, will doubtless
| place them on a good footing again.
BRIEFLETs.
The Halifax river section OF Volusis
| county is a rich one, presents great ad
Vantages to new settlers, and as it Is no
OF easy access it ID very probable thai
the coming year will witness large in
crease OF population.
Tae Executive Committee on the cele.
bration were George r. Pltzer, 2. n
BRYAN, c. Westall, Rev. j. A. Ball, o.
New Smyrna; Alfred Howard and
w. A. Coe, OF Glencoe, and DR.. j
NJ. Hawks, of Hawks Park. They
did their duty well and thoroughly
and certainly deserve great credit. Th c
attendance was much larger than they
calculated on, and they were hard pressed
TO accommodate the immense crowd.
But they did it and every one seemed well
satisfied. They expected about 300 ylsi.
tors, but the train alone brought nearly
700 people, while fully 300 TO 800 more
came in boats, wagons and on foot, New
smyrna was 'full' indeed for the nonce,
and her enterprising citizens seemed
greatly delighted thereat.
Tie company will run two trains daily
each way for the present, making sure
connection with the Jacksonville, Tampa